World Cup stud engraver talks about his project

05th December 2011 - Fine Cut

An engraver who carved the names of all England's World Cup goalscorers on to a football boot stud has talked about what drove him to make the piece.

Graham Short, who is known for his miniatures, described to Mail Online how the subject is close to his heart; having decided last year that he wanted to celebrate the 60th anniversary since the country was accepted into the international competition in 1950.

He took four and a half months to complete the project, with mistakes causing him to have to restart up to 40 times. The precision engraving of the 38 goalscorers involved Mr Short staying in good physical shape, as he needs to keep his heart rate down to work effectively.

"I just did it as a challenge and because the stud is much larger than what I usually work on, I decided to put the three lions crest on as well," added the 65-year-old.

Gizmodo pointed out that Mr Short's miniature engravings involve significant sacrifices; he takes beta-blockers to lower his heart rate and had Botox around his eyes to help with his work.

The news provider reported that the artist's most famous work is probably still engraving the Lord's Prayer on to the head of a gold pin. All 70 words of the religious text were engraved on to the 2mm-diameter surface.